Soldiers will face civilian justice

Legal experts say it is up to the prosecutor-general to decide whether criminal charges will be brought against soldiers who shot a three-year-old girl in the head in the Bwabwata National Park last week.There has been some confusion over whether the soldiers will be charged before a military tribunal, but that is not the case. Legal experts say any crimes committed by military personnel within Namibia are investigated by the Namibian Police and are heard by civilian courts. Military courts only have jurisdiction if such crimes are committed outside Namibia.A Windhoek family - Harald Keil (33), his wife Teresa (33), and their two daughters, three-year-old Alexia and two-year-old Caytlin – came under fire from an anti-poaching unit in the park in north-eastern Namibia last week.The unit consisted of uniformed NDF troops and plainclothes members of the Anti-Poaching Unit.Keil allegedly drove off after being stopped by the patrol. Alexia has a bullet lodged in her brain and is in critical condition in the intensive care unit of a Windhoek hospital.The family has laid a charge of attempted murder with the police.The Ministry of Defence has remained mum on the incident. A press conference scheduled for Friday was called off.On Monday, Namibian Sun was told that no questions from the press would be answered and that matter was in the hands of the police. Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Kavango Open Africa Route (KOAR), Mark Paxton, has expressed concern over the impact the incident will have on tourism. In a letter sent to the tourism ministry he said KOAR was distressed to learn about the horrific incident involving the Keil family.“By first-hand accounts it appears to have been an example of men in uniform abusing their powers in a totally unprofessional and irresponsible manner. “While we quite understand and appreciate the need for efficient and effective law enforcement and anti-poaching activities, we do not see the need for this measure of unreasonable conflict with tourists travelling in the parks,” Paxton wrote.He said the incident could easily have involved international tourists who would have spread the word globally, with catastrophic results for the Namibian tourism industry.According to Paxton several incidents of harassment of tourists and tour operators in parks have been reported lately.“We would like to know what steps are being taken to investigate this incident, and we would also like to know what this ministry is doing to prevent any further similar incidents from occurring in our national parks in these regions and elsewhere in Namibia.”He said the Kavango and Zambezi regions were still recovering from similar incidents during the 2000-2002 unrest when tourists were shot at. These incidents caused the collapse of the tourism sector in both regions. According to Paxton the badly handled murder of tour guide Andi Maier in the Mudumu Park in July 2015 was another blow to the already fragile tourism industry in the northeast.KOAR has been operating in the Kavango Region for almost eight years. It has about 50 members, representing most of the legitimate tourism operations on the Okavango River System.

Soldiers will face civilian justice

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Soldiers will face civilian justice

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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